Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-01-08
THE SAME OLD STORY.


How II Was Told In Ancient Times.
Love. Devotion and Tetradrachms.
"Tell me, Hiparche," quoth Diomedes,
the scrivener, "tell me, by the love you
/ bear the gods, Is there this night in all
Athens such delight as |, returning from
my toll, have found' This kid is roasted
to perfection, and the spinach more pleases
the palate than the olives Of Cyprus or
the golden apples Of Thracc. Where is
to be found such wine as You this mo-
ment have with your two hands poured
outl And surely where, unless il be upon
the sacred mount in Thessaly, is to be
heard of mortal ears such song as you,
touching your lye, discourse to the plain
tive spondees Of Phaon's rejected loyerI'
snow, by Pallas Athene," quoth
Hiparche, "you say words that are
, smoother and do more rejoice me than
the honey Of Hymettus. Yet what serv-
ice can |, o Diomedes, do Of which YOU
are not more than worthy For Eros aud
his seabOrn mother shall bear me witness
that since the time the arrow pierced my
breast, kindling there the fire more subtle
than that Prometheus stole, TO do your
will has been my souls delight.
May demonstrated Diomcdcs, gently
! disengaging lIiparche's shapely arms
from about his neck, may, dear wife, be
not so demonstrative; see, you have spilled
the wine upon my togav'
"The gods save mel" criel lIiparche;
~ hal no purpose of that kind. for twas
but this day that /, seeing You approach
our house, said 10 myself: How clean is
my Diomedes' attire! How well hath he
preserved his toga and his buSkins from
the last season-surely he will not want
others for months to comet
''By the temple, you must be blind,
! Hiparche mine." cried Diome,les. Upon
| this toga there are many stains both here
/ In front and elsewhere, too, where | un-
guardedly have sat on benches newly
painted. And, look you, how that my
buskins do bag at the kneesn'
mot so, q Diomedes, "quoth liiparche.
"Have not eyes to see2 Yet, even were
it as you say-and so It is not-there is
about you "A beauty and manly grace that
make all people blind TO what you wear
Helas, al, aiy It's not so with mc-ai, al,
helas! not so with your lIiparche! 1t
has pleased the gods to make me very
human, and though seek 10 be cOmely
in your eyes find il hard to be so. Look
with your two eyes, o Diomedes, upon
this flowing robe of mine and tell me is IL
not dowdyp BY Zeus, / am ashamed to
be seen wearing it in the AcrOpOlis, the
more so since but to-day PhaXylla-she
whom detest-paraded before the house
clad in new gown Of Carthaginiau pur-
pler'
"By Hercules" protested Diomedes
''your robe beseems you; il hath preserved
its color and hath not lost its shapeliness
/ like it well, remembering that paid
Mycemas the Cretan three tetradrachms
of silver starters for it,.
Nay, by that same Hercules, tits
dowdyr cried Iliparche, and thereupon
she fell to weeping and to beating Of her
breast and 10 tearing Of her hair, uttering
wild oaths 10 Pallas Athene and calling
the gods to witness that she wished she
never had been born to wed man who
cared not how his wife looked so long as
he himself was well clothed. Whereupon
| Diome,les, touched with compassion for
, IIiparche, drew from his purse four tetra.
I drachms, being his weeks salary, and
babe her buy the raiment she desired.
Now, by the dog, how are the times
changed. In these degenerate days we
have no scmblance 10 Hiparche, the
Athenian wife! D Zeus and ye other gods
immortal, dwellers on high Olympus,
how hardly hast thou dealt with poster.
ity, preserving the like Of Diomedes
through all ages down TO this very mo-
ment, hut giving to our companionship
none such as Iiiparche to mulct us Of our
love, of our devotion and of our tetra-
drachms-Chicago News.